Why it’s time for a national right to wellbeing: steering into the tough stuff post-election

The presidential election surfaced fissures that carve deep into the ideal of a common identity of America.

We at FFI are chilled, frustrated and outraged by the illumination of hate and base instincts of division and intimidation, and we are scared for and with each other and all the people across our country who are less safe than they were two weeks ago. We stand in solidarity with the many people writing and speaking about these real fears.

We are committed to being part of not just something that restores, but a movement that actually moves us all forward.

And we believe that an essential piece of the puzzle is wellbeing: a set of core needs and experiences we universally seek, in combination, and that we universally need for health and hope.

We all seek to be in relationships where we get and give value, to feel a sense of belonging to things bigger than we are; we need to know that core parts of our identity don’t expose us to danger or hatred; we need to know there are rhythms in our days and stability we can count on; we need to see that our actions and our work matter: that we have impact and can shape our future, our relationships, our environment; we need to be able to meet our and our children’s needs for food, clothing, shelter, school, health care, and more without shame or danger. And we all seek progress for ourselves and our loved ones, but in ways that don’t create havoc in other parts of our life.

These universal needs bind us all. Far from a nice extra, wellbeing is vital.

What the election surfaced is that across the country, and far more pervasively than many otherwise knew, people feel their wellbeing is thwarted and threatened. One possible response is to keep turning on each other and on the systems and institutions that should protect us, but that so many Americans no longer trust.

FFI rejects this, and we believe that many of you do, too. It’s a zero sum game if one person’s wellbeing is only increased when someone else’s is diminished.

The other possibility is actually a responsibility.

We all have a responsibility to steer into the magnificent and sometimes disquieting truth that we are more alike than we are different—not to excuse hate, vengeance, intimidation and oppression, but instead to address it head on and disarm it. To see each other in the full frame of our lives and align our interactions, practices, policies and institutions with what is required to provide equitable access to wellbeing. To create a space where one person’s wellbeing enhances another’s—not a zero sum game, but an exponentially more powerful and positive one. To leverage this moment not to get us back to where we were two weeks ago, but to really increase access for everyone, particularly those who grapple with poverty, violence, trauma and oppression.

FFI’s purpose is more relevant than ever. We will continue to support change that brings a wellbeing orientation to organizations, systems and communities, and we will accelerate our work to, in coalition and collaboration, assert a national right to wellbeing.

We cannot and must not do this alone. If you believe that we all have a right to wellbeing, please be in touch as we, together, shape a bright, urgently needed way forward.

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Nine years ago, the Full Frame Initiative (FFI) was founded out of hope for what could beand frustration about what is. To this day, we stay centered on a central question: what if our service systems … Read More...

Statement on Equity and Social Justice

We believe equity and social justice are necessary for wellbeing--the needs and experiences required for health and hope. People experience barriers to wellbeing based on race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, and other identities. In particular, racism is a key part of what keeps inequity alive in the United States. We believe that increasing access to wellbeing is necessary to end racism and advance racial equity. We are committed to addressing issues of racial and social equity in all our work.